Principal Dr. Jeff Stichler has focused on getting feedback from the school community since taking over leadership at Caney Creek High School over the summer.

He has been working with students and organizations to improve their budget or policies they wish to change

Stichler has made communication and student-oriented education a priority. His philosophy on leadership is “love and accountability”. According to Stichler, balancing both love and accountability not only shows great signs of leadership but it gives positive results. With our student’s sense of achievement, he believes that the right direction to be headed.

“I believe in an upside down pyramid where the students are at the top, then the teachers, and then the administrative team is next and then I’m at the bottom,” Stichler said.

Stichler graduated at Texas A&M with a bachelor’s in kinesiology. He also holds a doctorate of education from University of Houston and a master’s of education from Sam Houston State University.

During his college years, peers used to persuade him into choosing a career where he could earn better financially, which distracted him into doing what he loved best, teaching students.

“Finally I said, you know what? I’m going to be a teacher because this is what I want to do. I wanna help kids,” Stichler said. “It took me awhile to get that right, but I’m very happy and have no regrets at all coming into who I am.”

Stichler said that he serves everybody on this campus. He has been working with club sponsors to try and help out in anyway financially what students wish to be part of.

“I’m not going to let a club just fall to pieces because of something happened, or they don’t have enough money and there’s something really good that they want to go to,” Stichler said.

His first long-term decision was the new school branding. He believes one panther should distinguish Caney Creek from other schools

In addition, he had an ID printed for every student. He did this because he believes it was unfair that students from other districts, like Willis and Montgomery, have IDs and CCHS did not.

“They have student IDs, and you just have a piece of paper folded up in your pocket?” Stichler said. “That’s not right. You need to be able to be proud of our school.”

With a student ID in hand, he said students will be proud of the change and their school.

“I want kids to be able to go out into the community,” Stichler said, “talk to their friends from New Caney, Cleveland, Willis, Conroe and say ‘Look at the cool things we get to do out here. This is the best school,’ and be proud of where they’re from.”

Stichler said his door is always open. He looks forward connecting with students and working with their desired ideas.

“If someone has an idea – and I tell students this all the time – if you have an idea and you think it would be great, come by and tell me,” Stichler said.

As a result of his greater interaction with the parent-teacher organization, there is now a parent resource center with four computers, a printer and a telephone.

“If parents need to use a computer and a printer and they don’t have one available to them, they can just come to this school and use ours,” he said. “Even if it’s to pay bills.”

Prior to being named principal of CCHS, Stichler served as principal of Moorhead Junior High for a year after coming over from Conroe High School’ Ninth Grade campus.